Humor can be painful because there's a grain of truth in every joke.<p>For example, think about some of the jokes that are considered crass and offensive in American culture: bits about black people being poor; women being treated as housewives.<p>While the stereotypes are false, they relate to deep-rooted societal problems. Income inequality is still associated with racial inequality. Women are still underpaid and underrepresented in some industries.<p>Political correctness is not noble. It's a form of cowardice, a band-aid that prevents us from using humor as a vehicle for thinking about uncomfortable problems.<p>The harder an issue is to joke about, the more it requires jokes.